Investigation of Approaching Speed at Highway-Railway Grade Crossing: Songkhla Case Study
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Abstract
A highway-railway grade crossing (HRGC) is a special type of intersection where the right-of-way between the highway authorities and the state railway are shared. The traffic warning devices can be divided into two groups: passive (e.g. stop sign), andactive (e.g. flashing lights and automatic barriers). This paper presents an investigation into the approaching speeds of private vehicles (i.e. motorcycles and cars) at four HRGC locations in Songkhla.At each location, the speed data wasobtained by a speed gun, whereas the driving behavior involving safety issues was collected by video recording. The results show that the average approaching speed of the crossings was approximately 21 kph for the passive, and approximately 40 kph for the active traffic warning devices. Moreover,the response time to traffic warning deviceswas 5.3 and 7.5 seconds for active crossings;9.82 and 9.11 seconds for passive crossings. Although most drivers reduced their speed, some still did not act according to the regulatory signs. This is a critical issue which authorities must take into account.
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References
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